“I’m sorry.” King Zeller blurred next to my side, a breeze ruffling my hair, holding the movie. “That was rude, and very inconsiderate.” He handed me the case, and rubbed on my back a bit woodenly, like he didn’t do well with criers. “It’ll get better.”
As he moved away, I heard Sin groan quietly, and I turned, eyes shimmering in hilarity, and started doing a little cowboy dance behind the King’s retreating back. My King and the Elders’ faces were priceless while they watched on, Sin only glaring at King Zeller, rubbing his forehead. King Zeller froze, and turned in a whirl, his eyes going wide. I grinned cheekily, and finished my little dance. “Your wallet, knocked your ass out, and tricked you. You’re falling behind in the count.” I bowed grandly. “With great respect, of course.” Elder Bridges and Brann both started choking on chuckles, earning a glare from King Zeller, but I explained when he peered back to me, “One, I’m a woman. Two, I’m a spirit. Three, my life has sucked a big one. Subterfuge is native to my very being, and a must for survival.” I waggled my shoulders as I moved to the chair, smiling happily. “And you just fell for my fav-or-ite trick.”
“But,” he sat heavily on the recliner, “you were honestly upset.”
“Her third point. Her life has sucked,” Sin stated slowly, still glaring at him. “She knows what to use when it’s needed to get what she wants.” He waved an irritated hand at me as I jumped and put the movie into place. “And now, we’re all stuck watching three fun filled hours of mush because you fell for tears that weren’t even falling.”
When everyone glared at King Zeller, I waved a hand, jumping down from the chair. “Don’t blame him. You were all thinking the same thing.” I proceeded to move the chair out of everyone’s way.
“Not me,” Sin muttered grumpily.
“Given,” I stated easily, and turned the projector on with a remote, black and white stilled images flashing on the white screen as I flicked the lights off. “Now, make room.” I waved my hands between King Collins and Cain on the couch. “This is going to be so much fun!” I hopped a bit, truly appreciating all their revolted expressions. “Like a big slumber party of Royals, but with actual wholesome good times.”
Elder Samson flicked a finger at me. “You’re getting your own damn room at the other cities.”
My eyes instantly gleamed, and I heard many a groan from whatever they saw on my face. “But…you can all protect me so much better if I’m sleeping in the same room as you.” I wiggled down into place between my King and Cain, stretching my legs out in front of me. “And think of all the money I’ll save you when you inevitably try your hand at gambling with the spirits again!” I pressed another button, turning the film on. “It’ll be a blast.”
King Collins held up the silk white scarf I had gotten each of them. “You don’t really want us to wear these, do you?”
All eyes turned to me.
“You can if you want to. It may actually work fashion-wise with what I have to wear.” I waved an absent hand. “And, if you didn’t notice, they’re all embroidered, personalized with my own brand of my likeness for each of you.” And in black, the woman actually having colored thread to do so with at the market.
Instantly, everyone started covertly searching for their scarf in the dimness of the room, lit only by the movie that was starting, trying to discover what I had written about them, the writing small and hard to find.
I heard a few grunts, even a couple of chuckles, my King actually sniffing once when he found my message, and Cain’s wolf huffing quietly as he stared at the message for long moments.
His simply reading, My Badass Wolf Man.
Covertly, I watched a bit warily, but relaxed in slow increments when he draped the scarf around his throat casually, not recoiling from it, even as King Collins draped his over his knees very carefully, my King stating on a gruff voice, “I’m sure I can work it some way.”
I patted his arm, trying to not fall against Cain when he stretched his arms over the back of the couch, his heat penetrating fiercely, his warm flesh rubbing against my shoulders, and told my King, but I was telling everyone, “Only if you want to. It’s not one of those gifts you have to wear to make me feel better. But,” I flicked a finger at everyone, “if you are going to trash it, just don’t do so in front of me, because that’s just inconsiderate.” I heard “Thank you’s” all around for the first time, but I waved a hand for them to be quiet, hitting a button on the remote. “None of that, gentlemen. We have two shows to watch, which demand utter silence and respect. Prepare to be amazed with the magnificence that was Humphrey Bogart.”
The next day each of them wore their scarf, whether it be as a belt, under their collars, as a shoelace, or even a bandana, but I much preferred Cain’s way, wrapped around his wrist, hooking through the thick black leather wristband he wore, nice and neat, but noticeable on his left arm, his black shirt sleeves pushed up on his muscled forearms, the light color fierce against his olive skin tone and the black stallions my Lajaks had been gifted. Although Leric continued to glance at it while riding, his eyes narrowed, he on my right, Cain on my left—as normal for my guard…but Leric had no room to talk since Lissa had joined our traveling group, staying respectively back on her white horse, on the far side of Roselle and Reese, apparently her position having been somewhat of an executive assistant to Leric, so I let it slide as long as they kept their interaction respectful, which they managed to do, her gaze always a bit wary on me, one of her first intelligent actions so far.
“We need a healer!” Leric bellowed while I hung precariously around his neck inside the pitch black cave, my body dangling behind him into the depths of Barren, almost to the top, three weeks after we had come to the Temple. “Caro’s injured!”
I heard shouting from above in my dazed mind, doing all I could physically just to hang onto Leric as he continued climbing out of the abyss of obscurity, but also, having to keep a tight rein magically on our tether together so he didn’t feel any of this horrendous pain. If I hadn’t trusted him before, I undoubtedly did now. He hadn’t left me behind when I had been lying, dying on the damn bloody dirt. Instead, he had roared in fury, and sliced and maimed and destroyed in outbreak speed, killing everyone he could even as he carried me back to the cave’s entrance, leaving a wake of death in his trail.
Thoughts in a mess as they normally were when I exited the Barren, my added profuse, and prolonged, blood loss, my life’s blood still trickling down my body, dripping off my toes into the Barren, I shouted on a choke when Leric bumped me again as he climbed. He heaved in a breath, hanging onto the wall with one hand, grabbing my arms when they slackened around his throat, ordering gruffly, “Hang on, kitten. We’re almost there.”
“Hurry,” I groaned on a slur. “Gonna…pass out.”
“Just hang on,” he barked, and continued climbing at his fast clip.